The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-02-16

tie is Major by breyst. and army eii-
quette reqaires that he shnuld be- called
by his breyet titlel You are not any
stronger than the other men. an.i you had
already seen q sooI deal of har,l -epioc.
Why did vou pull through when stronger
Hcn gave out -
Tie answer Of Maj. Gfeely IN Substance
was this
u was the feeling Of responsibility
that sustained me ielt chat 7 bad o.
ike anyhow I felt that I must stand hy
the men and fulfill the object Of the ex-
petition. A hundred times ! should
have been glad to die, - acute were my
sufferiugs but. in fact. had to.o MANY
things 10 attend to-
This was Major Greely's view Of the
matter. Some days later our friend read
in the Boston Journal another explans-
tiou, much more simple, If less romantic
OF the nineteen men who persisted,
said the Journal. ~ all but one were sm0k-
ers, and that one was the lias1 one 20 die
The survivors were u0n-smoking men.
The fompaHi9ls would bs reioiced o. be
able 10 believe this clean-cut oud highly
effective statement. because we sre 0ppos-
Ell. and have been from the beginning. %
the use Of tobacco in ali its forms Upon
referring 10 Major Greedy We find that
the paragraph though not exactly true,
vet containsa great deal Of ruth.
OF the six who lived % see their coun-
try again, an were men Of strictly tenn
perate habits IN every particular. -Four
of them never used tobacco. The two
others would sometimes, on festive occa-
sions. % oblige friends, smoke cigarette
or part Of a cigar They took no to-
bacco with them among their private
stores. and care nothing for H.
OF the nineteen who operished the large
majority were users Of tobacco. some ia
moderation. some 10 excess, The ,hrst
man to die was one who had been in for
mer years a hard drinker. aud there is
.e.l-on % believe that the deaths Of So
eral others were fastened by previous
habits Of excess
We DO not doubt that the nOn-smokers
and non-cbewers on this expedition had
a positive and very great advantage over
their comrades. because tobacco acts as a
-timuIant upon the digestive powers. ard
II Is the nature Of -timuiants first % ex-
cite and then 90 weaken. The excite
meut Is temporary the weakening is
permanent
Every one must have noticed how un-
comfortable "a smoker Il after dinner nm
I'll he begins TO smoke. The reason Is
that the hn1uid digestive powers made
languid by frequent stimulation are
waiting To- De aroused to exertion by the
accustomed stimulant We have not the
slightest doubt that men subjected % just
-uch trial, having To subsist upon
shrimps and seal-skin, would die about
in the order of the strength Of their di-
gestiye organs.
The sum Of the matter Is that all the
virtues. mental and moral, tend 20
strengthen our hold upon life. and all the
vices 20 lessen IL.
We add an anecdote related by SER
geant Fredericks. Three weeks before
the rescue Major Greedy. observing that
his hand, were swollen. removed from
his finger with great difficulty a rng Civ
en- by MS wife on his wedding day. and
wrapped it ina little piece Of paper with
his Will and a lock Of his hair He did
this, Jas he remarked, to save the men
who should find him the trouble Of cut
ting of his finger. The little parcel he
put in his pocket
Three more weeks brought him % the
Of his wedding day when
they all lay in their tent at deaths door.
He celebrated the occasion by putting on
his ring. although he could only succeed
in getting it about halfway down 10 the
second joint He said 70 the sergeant
Fredericks. this Is my wedding day.
and you see ] have put my ring on again
do it, believing that it viii bring Us an
good luck, a. it brought me six wears ago
to-day"
In forty-eisht hours the res,uius party
Youti, Compaaion-